Cars Aren't Guns.

I saw this on a friend's Facebook page the other day- Post Newton obviously- and had to respond. Lets look at the points one by one, shall we?

First: Title and Tag at each point of sale. Anybody know why a car has a title? I mean, besides me? Well I'll tell you. Cars were initially treated like any other piece of personal property; horses; carriages; furniture for example. A Bill of Sale was prepared by the seller and given to the buyer along with the item. The Bill of Sale was your proof of ownership. The problem was automobiles were expensive, and usually left unaccompanied in public places. Unscrupulous individuals would drive off in your horseless carriage, forge a Bill of Sale to themselves and convert your property into cash. The only way to regain your property was through a lawsuit. So the several states decided to title cars and register the titles with the state in order to stop the lawsuits from multiplying with the number of vehicles on the road. That lead to licensing, and then taxing the automobile, until we got where we are today.

Yes; guns are stolen on a daily basis, and those stolen guns are re-sold and then used in the commission of various crimes. But I really don't want a state data base or each weapon and where it is to be created, especially since there is a small and vocal portion of the country who want to confiscate and destroy those weapons.

And just for the record, if a movement is ever created to confiscate automobiles, I would be in favor of ending the state control of the licensing and titling of automobiles as well.

Second: Training. Did you know it is entirely possible to legally own an automobile, and legally drive that automobile with out a license? You just can't drive it on public roads or property. But you can drive it on your own property. Same with a gun. You can legally own and carry a concealed firearm without a special permit. As long as you never leave your private property. I am all in favor of permits for concealed carry. When you are on public property and in public places your actions will affect others- including me- so a required training and licensing is not a problem for me. As long as it is the individual who is permitted, and not an individual weapon.

Third: Written Test- See Second, above.

Fourth: Practical Test- See Second, above.

Fifth: Health Requirements. One of the things a firearm does in level the playing field. It allows a 75 year old woman to be equal to her 25 year old attacker. What would a Health Requirement be? You can never be too old or frail to be able to use a weapon for protection.

Sixth: Insurance. Based on? A car is capable of doing expensive damage if misused, or even through no fault of the driver if there are adverse environmental conditions; rain, snow, ice or fog. There are statistics on everything on the insurability of an automobile- and its driver. The same car will vary, depending on the age, marital status, driving record and sex of its driver, just as the same driver's insurance cost will vary between a Camaro and a 4 door Accord.

What will be the standard? Last year guns were used in the commission of say, for the sake of argument, 300,000 crimes, from assault to robbery to murder. Who do we determine insurance rates? Out of the more than 300 million guns estimated to be in this country, 300,000- assuming each weapon was used only once to commit a crime- we are looking at a less than one tenth of one percent use for damage on average. And of the more than 200 million gun owners, again, less than one tenth of one percent have misused their weapons. And that demographic probably doesn't even carry car insurance.

The vast majority of gun owners are already responsible for their weapons. Insurance would be a superfluous requirement and an onerous burden for no practical purpose.

Seventh: Inspection and Renewal. For who? owners, concealed carry permit holders or the guns themselves? Inspections are a requirement that has been dropped for the most part for automobiles; Permit renewals are a requirement already for concealed carry, and again, I have no issue with that requirement. But a yearly requirement to have each weapon inspected would be just like insurance; an onerous burden for no practical purpose.

All in all, each of these requirements would be a gun banners dream; they could still allow gun to be 'legal' but practically outlawed.

All of you in favor of making those points requirements for a firearm, think about this:Each abortion performed would be required to have a permit issued by the state; training for the mother in what stage of development her baby is at; testing to make sure she has absorbed that training; she must have written permission of the father in order to have the abortion;a requirement that she be financially responsible for the proper burial of the baby and a requirement that she attend the burial.

Hey; what's your beef? Abortion is still legal.